Chapter 35
Previous Chapter Cold sweat dripped from Han's brow. He only barely managed to beat Onyx last time, but who knows now? "You've...triggered Evolution," Han could hear Vincent say, still stunned. Han watched as Onyx—no, Steelyx now—smiled devilishly at the team, then he slammed his metal-covered arm into the floor, and a deadly spray of shrapnel burst out. Marcus, reacting sooner than Han, erected a softly-glowing barrier in front of everyone. The barrier, still powered from the malice absorbed earlier, easily deflected the attack, the metal shards bouncing uselessly on the ground. Han saw Marcus lift up his gun-glaive and shot a spray of his own bullets back in retaliation. Steelyx initially shifted, as if looking to dodge, but then he lifted his arm, and the shadow-bullets stopped in his palm. Coldly sneering, he dropped them uselessly on the ground. "You're weaker than before, Marcus Cato." "The malice you absorbed!" came Silvia's voice. "You absorb the properties of whatever attacks you, right?" Marcus thought back to the mounted machine guns. Realization dawned on him. "My Deathforce! If he can control metal now, my attacks aren't going to work anymore!" "You'll just have to cover us with your shields!" Han mentally replied. He clapped his hands together to concentrate, then his eyes glowed orange underneath his dark hood. Several hands, each translucent and glowing orange as well, materialized around him. They were large, about the same size as a chair, and tapered off into thin wisps. In the corner of his eye, Han could see Marcus put together that he was indeed the same person who helped him last time. He sent the hands, each clenched into fists, and sent them flying towards Steelyx. "You again, boy?" Steelyx brought his metal-covered arm behind him. The steel groaned as it bent further, forming evil-looking talons at then end. He waited until the psychic fists were just in range, and then he shattered them all with a powerful swipe at the last moment. "Pathetic," said Steelyx. He brought his metal claw in front of the team, challenging them. "Vincent, go after that director." Vincent looked at Steelyx incredulously. "You sure you can take all of them?" Steelyx ignored him. He brought his other arm down and ripped another steel plating from the floor, bending it around his bare arm. Steelyx then began charging towards the team, his steel-covered arms dragging behind him. The pointed claws scraped the ground, filling the air with terrifying sparks and sounds. Vincent turned, muttering something about Hunter first dismissing him and now him, and flew towards the back room where the director had fled. "We should stop Vincent from getting to the director," came Carter's voice. "There must be something important if he is still going after him." "I'll go," suggested Fenix. He typed away on his gauntlet, and Han could hear a low hum coming from his boots. The soles glowed a faint blue. "I'll be a liability if he really can control metal now." "Agreed. Go, Drone." Han watched Fenix sprint off to the side, his propulsion-boots allowing him to speedily reach the back room in a few strides. Han telekinetically shot another fist towards Steelyx, trying to capitalize on the momentary distraction. It managed to connect with an uppercut, launching Steelyx into the air. He did a backflip and stabilized himself, landing on all fours. He snarled at Han, like an angry wolf. "If we're able, let's try to contain the MERLIN members too," came Carter's voice again. "But as contingency, we fall back. No overexposure." Han projected two hands, and sent them traveling wide in a circle, trying to catch Steelyx in a psychic grip. Again, Steelyx waited until the hands were just about to close on him, clapped his hands onto the steel floor. A panel from underneath him bent upwards, then launched him high into the air, like a catapult. The psychic hands slammed together, but caught nothing but air. Steelyx clasped his claws together, the metal now forming into a crude spike. "I've got you now!" he shouted gleefully as he flew downwards at the team with a terrifying speed. "Incoming!" warned Marcus, as he took a step back to brace himself. Steelyx crashed straight into the Lifeforce barrier, white lightning crackling from the point of impact. Marcus almost dropped to one knee. The power was so great; it would only be seconds until Steelyx managed to pierce through the barrier. "Palm! Maneuver seven!" Han turned to see Silvia sprinting right at him. "W-what? Oh," replied Han, blanking for a minute. It had been a while since their missions in their early days. He created a hand, palm-up, on the ground. When Silvia stepped onto the hand with her foot, Han heaved the hand upwards with a grunt. Just like Steelyx, Silvia was launched into the air, avoiding Steelyx's attack, and landed behind him. Silvia stepped forward and brought her gloved hands in front of her. "Gnidnats retaw, emoceb a evaw!" The standing puddle of liquid from the tube came to life behind her, growing into a rushing wave. Caught unaware, the wave knocked Steelyx off from the barrier. Steelyx reeled back, now turning on the lone target. Silvia leaped back, avoiding Steelyx's swipe. Two psychic hands—the ones from earlier—managed to snag Steelyx's shoulders, gripping his attention. Steelyx, now trying to manage the fight from two angles, parried the hands and spun around, trying to decide who would be easier to take out first. Taking advantage of the momentary pause, Silvia raised her gloved hands again. "Dloc Dniw Wolb! Dloc Dniw Wolb! Dloc Dniw Wolb!" A rush of cold air whipped the water up around Steelyx. He grunted, breath visible. He started, preparing to lunge towards Silvia in retaliation, but his movements slowed down in the sub-zero temperatures. Frost quickly formed, making his skin turn white, until he came into a complete stop, frozen under a layer of solid ice. "He just needed to chill out," said Silvia with her hands on her hips, smirking. --- Vincent looked a little strange without his signature MERLIN attire, but he actually blended in better this way. As dangerous as it might be, it had been better for Vincent to be one of the lead heads. Better to lead Project Survival and manage the direction of the research than let some nosy scientist develop a breakthrough and ruin everything. He remembered first being hired by Arthur King. He could tell the director did not like him, but he definitely needed him for his knowledge. At first what they were making in secret were very interesting. Technologies that could detect and track individuals with abilities, and even subdue and defeat them. While they could prove to be useful for the Organization, the worst-case scenario was too risky, so Vincent always made sure to sabotage each project. Change a value here, misplace something there. Although they were close, they could never seem to fully realize their projects. Then, everything changed when Onyx was captured. All of HaleLabs' progress exploded overnight. Now with a live subject to test on and extract from, their projects have come dangerously close to fruition. Actually, having Marcus Cato discover them now was almost beneficial. He could use them. And now, Vincent shook his head, breaking from his musings. Back to reality. Back to the problem at hand. "I don't really like to get my hands dirty," said Vincent coolly. "But I need to make sure I have no loose ends." He was in the small room, alone with the director. The director was in the corner, folders in a death grip, glaring back. Vincent slinked over like a cat, and the director flinched back. "GET BACK, MUTANT," Arthur shouted. He was doing what any cornered animal would do; quiver and snarl back. Vincent paused. "You know," Vincent began. "I never understood why you devoted your whole life to Project Survival. "Sure, I understand surviving and all that," continued Vincent, cutting off the director when he opened his mouth. "There's no way ordinary people could stand up to people like me. But with you, it's personal. What happened to you? Why do you give everything, even your own funding, into this project?" The director did not answer, but simply continued to glower and tremble. Vincent heard someone at the door, trying to force it open. He heard some beeping noises. He didn't have much time left. He extended his hand out. "Join us. The Organization could use more people like you as well. I can get you out safe. We can keep you safe. What do you say?" "Absolutely not," Arthur spat back. The door hissed, and slid open. There was no time now. Ah well. Vincent plucked a feather. In an instant he was standing in front of the director. He plunged the it—now turned into a spear—into his heart. "I gave you a chance, Arthur," said Vincent remorsefully. "I gave you a chance." In the corner of his eye, he saw the masked man with the funny-looking gizmos on his arms and legs. Even though he couldn't see his face, he imagined his expression to be shock. Before the masked man could respond, Vincent took the folders and fled, flying by in a corkscrew, a flurry of black feathers trailing behind, and blew past the man through the door. The gasping director dropped to his knees, blood staining his pressed clothes. He had his chance. --- "We don't have the equipment to contain him," ''came Carter's voice. They were trying to decide what to do with Steelyx. ''"Our priority now is to subdue the other MERLIN agent and gather as much intel as possible. We can build effective prisons for them afterwards." "But what if we don't get another chance? What if they're never alone again?" Han heard Marcus argue back. The team was still standing in the chamber, surrounding Steelyx. He remained frozen, unable to move from his position. Han kept his eyes glued on him, on guard in case he breaks free. "I want to live a quiet, peaceful life. Free from fear, and free from attention," interjected Han. He saw Silvia look down at the floor. "I want answers, as much as you do, for why they're seeking us out. But if we aren't careful, all that we worked for could slip through our fingers." Marcus grew heated. "There's a difference between being cautious and losing your opportunity!!" Then, sudden movement caught the room's attention. Vincent emerged from the far door, panting. Han immediately noticed the blood on Vincent's hands. He could hear Silvia gasp; she saw it too. "Fen - Drone, are you there?!" checked Silvia. There was silence, but then a voice sounded in Han's mind. "I'm fine, I'm fine. He murdered the director. Stabbed through the heart." Silvia sighed in relief, and Han exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding. Vincent saw the team surrounding a now-frozen Steelyx, and his eyes grew wide. In panic or desperation, Han couldn't tell, but Vincent instantly jumped into the air, hovering near the ceiling. The winged-man seemed to dash through the air, in bursts of speed that left a trail of feathers, until he was only 30 feet away. Han was taken back; he didn't expect Vincent to move so freely in the air like that. --- Three enemies. I already know Marcus Cato's power. He's too difficult to fight one-on-one already, and now I have to deal with these two unknowns, thought Vincent. He looked at the masked woman. From her costume, it looks like she is a User of magic, but it's too dangerous to assume. Vincent sighed. He didn't like this at all. Steelyx was way too overconfident when he was this outnumbered. And that hooded boy, he's big trouble too. We discovered and hacked into their radio frequency to prepare, but then they seemed to drop it entirely as soon as this boy joined. Was he the person giving instructions? In any case, it looks like the hands that he creates emanates from his body. Best to not get too close and be caught. Vincent unfurled his wings, and leapt into the air. If he was going to escape it out of here with Steelyx in tow, he will have to be extremely careful. He flew through the air in short bursts of speed, black feathers trailing behind him, until he hovered in place, just a short distance away from the three enemies. They shouldn't be able to reach me from here, thought Vincent. "I don't feel like fighting, so I'll give you guys a break," said Vincent aloud. "I'll let you guys leave with the director, I'll just take your prisoner and leave." He was bluffing. He plucked a feather and held it between his fingers. "I would much rather not do this the hard way." Then, he saw the masked woman sprint towards the hooded boy. Alerted, he nearly missed Marcus also raising his Deathforce weapon at the same time. Vincent descended, narrowly avoided the spray of bullets. Crap! He watched the hooded boy create a glowing hand flat on the ground, palm facing up. The masked woman jumped on, and the hand launched her towards Vincent. The feather in his hands quickly hardened and shaped into a spear, but the woman already had her gun drawn. As she flew in front of him, she fired shot after shot. Vincent didn't have the time to dodge again, and was forced to use his wings to shield the bullets. When he unfurled his wings, he suddenly felt a strong blow from behind. He yelped in surprise, but righted himself again with a couple flaps. There was another spray of Deathforce bullets, which Vincent had to quickly deflect by spinning his spear. From the corner of his eyes he saw it was one of the boy's hands that had punched him. Did they use the fact he couldn't see when his wings were in front of him to launch their attack?! He watched as the magician fall back down to the ground, and the hand flew underneath her to catch her. This was really bad. Marcus was never a team player. According to the reports MERLIN has, he prefers acting alone. How could this team be so coordinated, and do so nonverbally? With a yell, he flung his spear at the group, but a Lifeforce barrier was quickly erected at the same instant. Curse that Malicesight! The spear smashed into the barrier, but Vincent was surprised it created many hairline cracks. Of course! Marcus had absorbed Steelyx's malice, so his Lifeforce isn't completely resistant against my'' attacks'', thought Vincent. I'll have to use my ultimate attack to get out of this. --- "Watch out!!" Marcus shouted, bringing his arms up to raise a barrier. Not a moment later, Vincent fully expanded his black wings to its full wingspan; nearly the length of two cars. With a strained yell, he clapped his wings together. His feathers fired down diagonally, turning into black rays of darkness. "Destruction Rain!!" Ducked under Marcus, Han covered his head as Vincent's barrage slammed on the barrier with ferocious intensity. The floors and walls unprotected by Marcus's shield became decimated with dozens of punctures and slices. "It's not going to last!" thought Marcus, panicked. More equipped to deflect metallic attacks, each blast quickly eroded the malice-infused barrier. Then, the Lifeforce shield shattered into small, golden pieces. A multitude of orange hands blossomed to protect the team, but they too were annihilated, shattering into pieces one by one. The feathers, although slowed down by the shield, still shred through the team. Han dropped to the ground, cuts all over his clothes and body. He peeked through his arms and saw Marcus was on his knees, having taken the brunt of the attack, red slowly spreading through his clothes. Silvia held her hand to her side. She was hurt, but still had a determined look on her face. --- Vincent dropped to the ground, panting. He had to spend all of his energy with that attack. The hooded boy's shredded sweater fell apart, and for the first time, Vincent could see his face, exposed. In an instant, the boy's expression turned from focused determination to horror. Something inside the boy broke; Vincent could tell. He desperately tried covered his bare face with his own hands. At the same time, he observed Marcus and the masked woman both staring at the boy, confused. "Palm? What's going on?" said Marcus aloud. "Are you okay?!" said the woman as she hurriedly brought her hand to his shoulder. "So you're a telepath!" Vincent added up. Somehow his Destruction Rain, or more likely his exposed face caused the boy to break his concentration, turning off his telepathy. Then the reason they were radio silent when he arrived was because he set up a psychic link. "That's how you all were so coordinated, isn't it?" accused Vincent, knowing he was right when he saw the boy's expression. "You were all communicating mentally!" There was a cracking sound, and everyone turned to the frozen Steelyx. The ice encasing him was shattering, until finally he broke out with a ferocious roar that sent shivers down Vincent's spine. Now was his chance! Even without his wings, Vincent could still quickly dash towards Steelyx. He was slightly dazed, but still very angry. "Vincent! You're here," he said while breathing heavily. "Now's our chance to take them out." "No," said Vincent. "They still outnumber us, and I don't have my wings anymore. We retreat." Steelyx shot a menacing glare at Vincent, who returned it. "We retreat," he repeated sternly. After a few seconds of silence, Steelyx huffed, looking away. Vincent was relieved. This guy had a head as hard as stone sometimes too. Vincent and Steelyx both dashed towards the entrance. "Stop!" cried Marcus. He pointed his weapon at them. Vincent looked back and gave him a crooked smile. "Another time, Marcus Cato. We'll meet again, and we'll be prepared." They both dash towards the elevator, avoiding Marcus's spray of Deathforce fire. With a wave of Steelyx's hands, the metal doors crumpled out and away, like peeling the skin off an orange. Steelyx hugged his arm around Vincent's waist, and gripped the steel elevator cable with his free hand. They suddenly shot up to the surface. They were gone. --- Han was still hiding his face. Tears were streaming down his face. They saw him! The MERLIN guy saw him! He couldn't even hear Silvia's words as she was trying to calm him down. He started hyperventilating. He felt like throwing up. What if they recognize him in the streets? What if they found him while he was at work? What if?! Han gasped a deep breath. What if they find out where he lives?! It wasn't just about himself. Han was worried they could come after everyone he loves. He barely even heard Fenix approach until he was next to them. "I tried to come as soon as I could," he said. "What were you doing Drone?" demanded Silvia. "Palm here is in a wreck." "What happened?" Fenix asked. "Yeah, why couldn't I hear you guys anymore?" asked Marcus. "Palm's ability, Mind Meld, let's us mentally communicate," explained Silvia. "However, when his face was shown to the enemy, he panicked. And when the psychic panics, or breaks concentration, the connection goes down." Fenix nodded. He knew about Han's fear of being outed. He understood Han's reaction. "And now both of them got away," said Marcus defeatedly, kicking away at a black feather. "Well, at the very least I have some good news," said Fenix. "C'mon, let's head back to the surface. Then I can explain." --- "And what happened after the second MERLIN agent broke free?" Back on the surface, the team was with Carter Rook in the unmarked van, filling him in on what happened after the Mind Meld went down. "Both escaped. They must've fled back to their base," said Silvia. Han noticed people giving quick glances, but feared looking back into their eyes. He didn't want to see their looks of pity. "On the positive side, I did manage to uncover something interesting," spoke Fenix. He pressed a button on his gauntlet, and a hologram was displayed. Dozens of folders were projected. "In the small room inside the chamber, they had a secured terminal I managed to get access into. These ones are much more heavily encrypted. If there is going to be a lead on Organization MERLIN, it's going to be in here." Carter nodded. "Great. I'll be relying on you to work on decrypting them," he said. "It was my fault." Everyone except Han turned to look at Marcus. "I was too eager to contain the organization members. I wanted to get answers so badly that I overexposed our team. We got hurt, a civilian was killed, and we don't even have either of them." "I agree this wasn't the smoothest mission," said Carter. "But you all adapted to the situation and we didn't come out fruitless. Now we have these files, and we even know the names and abilities of two MERLIN agents." Marcus nodded. "Next time, I will make sure we won't make the same mistakes," promised Marcus. "Good. We will see what kind of data Drone can uncover, and plan our next move from there. Drone, how long do you think it will take you to decrypt the files?" asked Carter. "There's eight terabytes here, so optimistically? A month, probably more." "Then we will rendezvous then," said Carter. "I suggest we do some more training in the meantime." It was a subtle jab at Han, intentional or not. When Han and Fenix were dropped off, Han finally broke his silence. "I won't be a burden next time," he said to Fenix, calmed now. "I will see Master Qiankai again." Next Chapter